Top 10: Rock Diss Songs

Number 2

"You Oughta Know" - 1995

Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette emerged from the Canadian teen-pop wilderness with this X-rated dressing down of a former lover who didn't like to be bugged in the middle of dinner. The song made Alanis a superstar and speculation almost immediately ran rampant about the identity of the lucky cad who received oral sex from Ms. Morissette in a movie theater. Rumors ensnared everyone from NHL hockey player Mike Peluso to Friends star Matt LeBlanc. But a (flabbergasting) consensus was eventually reached that the object of Alanis' venom was the hack Full House actor Dave Coulier, the third coolest actor on the show behind John Stamos and Bob Saget — there were only three men on the show.

Aftermath: We've assumed that given the healing power of time and the ample opportunity she's had to review old episodes of Full House, Alanis has realized it was all for the best and moved on.

Number 1

"Sweet Home Alabama" - 1974

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Neil Young, incensed at what he saw as the American South's ongoing racism and complicity in Richard Nixon's landslide re-election to the American presidency in 1972, fired off a blistering attack on the region in "Southern Man." Lynyrd Skynyrd was the South's official houseband and band leader Ronnie Van Zant didn't take the jibe sitting down. The result of Van Zant's labors was "Sweet Home Alabama," alternately a defense of his fellow southerners and a celebration of southern culture. Van Zant's Dixie anthem — made all the more persuasive by some truly brilliant guitar work — culminates in the legendary pre-chorus rebuke, "I hope Neil Young will remember/A southern man don't need him around, anyhow."

Aftermath: Despite reputed animosity between the two, Young and Van Zant respected each other. Tragically, Van Zant and several band and crew members would perish in a plane crash only a few years later.

verbal lashing 101

Being pissed off probably isn't the optimum state for songwriting. But the entries above show that, if properly harnessed by the right individual, raw feeling can translate into something special. All of the artists above harnessed their anger, disgust or bitterness to make songs that transcended their core and personal emotions, and became relatable to millions of strangers.